Next phase for Angels

There is an increasing interesting towards startup investing in the Nordics. NordicBAN predicts the activity and role of business angels to increase and below some of our expectations for angel activity in the near future.

Investment platforms
Most of angel groups and networks today offer some level of digital information which they use share information about their investment opportunities and interest to invest (for example Gust). The next stage will be the possibility to actually invest through these platforms, allowing the angels to focus on building relations as the technical elements (like signing) are done electronically. A good example is for example Invesdor’s closed investment round service (with the possibility to crowdfunding) and StartupIncluder.

Super angel led investment rounds
Investment platforms will make it easier "technically" to invest in startups, but the investments are still very risky. A solution can be the increased visibility of the "lead investors". It is easier to collect an investment round when the lead investor is know to the investment community. We therefore assume that investment platforms that highlight the investor and allows co-investments will increase popularity. A good example is AngelList.

Investment “co-loans”
It’s not just all about investing, loans are often used as an excellent add-on for investments. Some financial institutions have noticed the opportunity to give startups growth loans. A startup typically has very limited amount of securities to use and therefore companies, which have an acknowledge investor or group on board, have better opportunities to receive these loans. As high-growth goals include a lot of risk the loans are heavily based on trust towards the investors and the entrepreneur. As a bonus, many governments and EU structures offer backup support decreasing the risk. One of these service providers is Nordea's grow unit. 

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